Bottled Up
by califreakinfornia
Summary: The Gang is about to head their separate ways, but will chopping and changing romances lead to something controversial? Will Seth and Summer ever get back together? And is Marissa about to go over the edge?
1. Time For Some Quick Thinking

**_Time for Some Quick Thinking _**

****

**Background: After Seth travels all the way to Brown University with Summer, knowing he hasn't made it in, he bumps into his ex-flame, Anna. **

**Seth has kept it secret from Summer that he didn't get into Brown, and he seeks advice from Anna. She suggests he tell her, but to remain close to her and keep their relationship, maybe he should apply to Long Island Design and see where it takes him. Great idea! But what can he apply with? **

**Well, Anna suggests he do what he does best. Comics. **

**Marissa and Ryan have experienced that rocky berak-up and are avoiding each other as usual. Ryan and Sadie are together as are Marissa and Volchok.**

* * *

Anna paced around the room as Seth sat at his desk, furiously scribbling. Next to him were 14 blunt pencils, leftover from his previous failed attempts.

He was drawing a comic for his application to Long Island, but so far he'd had no good ideas.

'How about…shark attack? On a raccoon?' Anna suggested meekly. Her ideas were getting weaker and weaker as the afternoon dragged on. Seth gave her an 'are you serious' look.

'I give up!' she sighed and retired onto the bed.

'Come on Anna! Seriously I have to get this done by tonight, and I don't want to sound desperate, but you are my only hope. This is a life or death situation. Do you want me to die Anna?' Seth was getting more and more desperate for an idea entry.

_Beep Beep Beep. _

Anna's mobile reminder system signalled it was time to leave.

'Sorry, my Aunts coming to stay. I have to get to the airport. Good luck!' She smiled as she hurried out the door.

'Yeah,' Seth said kind-of to Anna, kind-of to himself, 'see that's a lot easier for you to say.'

'_Knock knock._' Said Seth's door.

'Come in.'

Summer didn't really need an invitation though. Nor, it seemed, was she required to give a greeting, 'What was Pittsburgh doing here?' she inquired.

'Oh! Hey Summer. Well you see…there's probably something I should tell you…' Seth began. From the look on Summer's face he could tell those were not the right words at the right time. Correcting himself, he said 'Not about Anna, it's about Brown.'

She seemed to relax a little at this, 'What about Brown?'

'You know how I never showed you my acceptance letter?' He looked at her, his face bearing a worried expression, 'Well its cause I never got one.'

Summer stood up at the shock. Why, time and time again, did her lie to her like this? About things she could've taken if only he'd told her…things that weren't his fault, things that she would understand. Was he trying to conserve their relationship?

If he was, he was going the wrong way about it.

Normally in this situation, Summer would have gone off her head at Seth, and maybe slapped him or punched him a couple of times for his stupidity. But this time, she just walked out of the room. But the hurt on her face cut Seth more than any punch or slap could. He'd really screwed it this time.

As he sat in his room wallowing in his own stupidity, the same question kept reappearing in his mind…_ Why couldn't you just tell her? _It was only recently he'd been on his lying streak and before then he'd always been pretty comfortable telling

Summer stuff. But lately, they hadn't been talking much and he felt like he didn't really know her…what was going on? Another knock broke off his current train of thought. It was Sandy notifying Seth of the arrival of dinner in half an hour.

He began stressing again – he had till 9 tomorrow morning to get his application into Long Island and make his last attempt at salvaging him and Summer's relationship.

But as soon as he sat back at his desk, he felt doubtful and uninspired. Did he really want to go to Long Island? Sure comics were once his life…but he'd moved on now, and as much as he loved them he didn't want them to take over again. He still knew in his heart that the place he really wanted to go, was Brown.

He recalled first walking through the gates two days ago with Summer, and at that moment, he was in a state of existence where he wasn't thinking about the lie surrounding him, and that he hadn't really gotten into Brown. All he knew in that moment was he and Summer were together, they were happy, and they were in the place they both longed to be. To Seth, it was perfection.

And then it hit him; Brown Life! He'd do a comic strip of his first impression of Brown, show it to the headmaster, and if he liked it, well Seth had a chance. If not at least he didn't give up with out a fight. He was going Ryan-style.

* * *

The Cohens and pseudo-Cohen, Ryan were gathered round the dining table. Seth was grinning because he'd finally had the idea he needed. Ryan was grinning because Sadie was dropping by the poolhouse later, and he'd really find out where they stood. Sandy and Kirsten were grinning because it was the first time they'd seen their boys so happy in months.

'So, was everyone shocked by the Anna appearance?' Seth asked.

'Well now that you mention it, I didn't really get a chance to talk to her but you've got me confused son. I had to check my calendar and make sure it wasn't a year ago.' Sandy noted.

'Well Ryan, I told Summer.' Seth said. Ryan nodded not really wanting to know how it went. But Seth told him anyway, 'Not such a good reaction, but we'll talk about it later. No rage black outs. Anyway Mom and Dad, see I didn't get into Brown.' Seth broke the news to them as casually as possible, and he had no idea how they were going to respond.

'You're serious?' Kirsten asked dubiously.

'Well yeah, but that's why Anna was here. See I hadn't told Summer yet, and Anna wanted to help me get into Rhose Island Design with a comic strip, but then she had to leave before I finished, and then Summer came and I told her everything, and she left and then I had a great idea and I may just be getting into Brown after all.' Seth panted after another long speel of babbling. He wasn't sure how much of it his parents heard, but hopefully it was enough.

Just then, the doorbell rang, and hoping to avoid the awkward situation at the dinner table, Seth took the opportunity to leave. He almost galloped towards the door.

'Well,' said Sandy, looking bewildered, but not really surprised, 'I guess that's our son.'

'That's our son.' Replied Kirsten with the same look plastered across her face.

'Yep, that's your son.' Ryan replied, while he took his plate to the sink. He started heading back to the poolhouse but was interrupted.

'Ryan! Door for you. It's Sadie.' Seth called. He said goodbye to her and went upstairs to his room.

'Hey,' Sadie said softly, a smile spreading across her face.

'Hey.' Ryan replied as her brushed her cheek gently, then leant in and softly kissed her, on her cheek of course. Although he thought he knew where they stood, he didn't want to get too intense, but Sadie seemed very receptive to his kiss. The two of them made their way over to the pool house.

Up in his room, Seth was making some final adjustments to his comic strip, and then went downstairs to explain the situation further to his parents. But mainly to get some money to fly back over to Brown the next day and make his last attempt at being accepted. Just as he got to the bottom of the stairs though, there was a second ring at the door. He made his way over, but when the door opened, no-one was there. Seth was just about to close the door when he saw it – there, on the marble landing stood Princess Sparkle.

* * *

**There, first chapter out of the way. I'll update very soon so keep checking back. **

**Please R&R and give me your thoughts, I'll also review your stories. **

**Initially** **Ryan and Sadie (they will be featured more), and Seth and Summer/Anna but please note this could change at any time…keep checking back. Marissa will also need Volchok when Summer leaves. **

**I'm not totally happy with this chapter but I've started writing a second one which I like better so check back soon.**

**califreakinfornia xx. **


	2. And He's Back In The Game

**_And He's Back In The Game _**

'Come in.' boomed a voice from behind the solid oak door. Seth opened it and entered, finding himself in a large Victorian office filled with books. The dean of admissions of Brown University looked at him over the top of his glasses.

'Yes?' he questioned in a tone of voice that told Seth he better not be wasting his time.

'Uh…yes hello sir, I'm Seth Cohen.'

'Nice to meet you Seth Cohen, what would you like?' the dean's voice was beginning to sound impatient.

'Okay well I applied to Brown for this Semester, and I didn't get in by like, this much, so I was wondering, could I show you something?' Seth needed to be careful about the words he chose. It was make or break. The dean nodded but it was already apparent his mind wasn't going to be changed easily.

Not to be disheartened, Seth brought out his comic strip and laid it on the desk before him. He stood back and put his hands behind his back, and waited. For what he was waiting for he wasn't quite sure.

'Brown Life? Hmmm…' although the headmaster didn't give away too much, his body was swelling with interest, and it wasn't long before a smile spread across his face.

For that extra touch of encouragement Seth decided to further explain the comic, 'As you can see, I've used a theme commonly seen in the business, but it's also an extremely difficult one to pull off. I'm sure you've heard of it – 'first-impressionist'? Seth shot the first thing that came into his head, even though it was completely fake.

'Yes, yes…of course. Well, I've always had a soft spot for comics, I was a bit of a geek growing up!' the headmaster chuckled.

'Hey now,' Seth had found common ground here! Time to move in for the kill, 'Geekiness is the new brooding tough guy. You should embrace your geekiness, seriously. I am a real hit with the ladies, and it's all thanks to Mr. Geek. Trust me.'

'You really think so? Well I did see Gladys at reception give me a look just this morning…' he realised he was getting way off-track and wiped the thoughtful smugness off his face, 'I believe I could reconsider your application, I mean it's only fair…you came this close you said? Yes, yes consider it done. And, thank you.' He gave Seth an appreciative nod.

'Sir that is not a problem.' The loveable geek wins again.

'You can expect to hear from me in the next few days concerning your entrance. Nice to meet you Seth Cohen.' He gave Seth his cue to leave.

'And a pleasure to meet you too sir,' Seth turned and strutted towards the door, grinning like a 5 year old who'd just eaten a tub of ice-cream. 'Wait, could I please have your number? Just for you know, the admission thing.'

The dean looked a bit confused but he was a busy man so better just to give him what he wanted. He scribbled his name and the number down quickly on a slip of paper and handed it to Seth, who thanked him and walked out the door.

But on his way outside to hail a taxi, Seth made a brief stopover at reception.

'Hi, are you Gladys?' he asked the startled receptionist.

'Yes that's me, what can I do ya for?' she allowed him to slip the paper into her hand, and then he gave her a quick smile and left the building.

* * *

Summer felt the chilly breeze wash over her as Marissa pulled her quilt off her. It was 11 a.m. and Summer was still in bed. Marissa was trying to get her up so they could go shopping, but Summer looked a wreck – maybe today wasn't the best day for it.

'Sum?' Marissa tried to wake the sleepy-head gently, but that obviously wasn't going to work. She ended up having to physically drag Summer off the bed and then fill her toothbrush holder with water and pour the contents onto Summer's head before she got a response.

'Ahh Coop!' Summer shrieked as she bounced to her feet. 'Why can't you do anything the conventional way?' She questioned rhetorically.

'Sorry girl it's just I've been awake for hours. And I tried looking for Princess Sparkle to talk to but I couldn't find her.'

'Oh yeah…Princess Sparkle.' Summer remembered how she'd left Princess Sparkle at Seth's porch so he'd never forget her. She didn't know if she should be regretting it by now but she hadn't spoken to him since. And she didn't plan to. Her face suddenly became more sullen. 'Oh Coop. Cohen's screwed it up again. He lied to me! And this is what? The third huge lie?'

Marissa's face twisted in confusion, 'What are you talking about Sum?'

Summer sighed. 'Seth didn't even get into Brown. He's not going. There's no way our relationship can work! And I'm not sure I want it to with all the lies.'

Marissa wasn't sure what to say so she just climbed into bed with Summer and held her in a warm embrace. They lay there for at least an hour, and she occasionally felt tears drip onto her shoulder. When she finally pulled away from her friend, her brown hair was toussled and she was dozing peacefully.

Marissa slipped out of the room and padded barefoot down the cool marble stairs. Sitting cross legged by the motionless fireplace, she thought about ways to cheer Summer up. She knew her friend didn't feel like talking, so she decided to talk to Seth later. Maybe she should go round in the afternoon when Summer had a pilates session?

But she might bump into Ryan. Ryan. Why was that name so hard to forget? It was always there, when she slept, shopped, worked, all day at school. She kept telling herself she was over him, so why did her heart still flutter when she saw him? Why was she lost for words when she looked into his eyes?

She wasn't in love with Volchok, she knew that much. He was just an escape…from her mom, the trailer, school, memories and yeah, even an escape from Ryan. So that's what she was doing; escaping Ryan.

Maybe the phone was a safer option.

* * *

**Okay so next chapter Marissa talks to Seth and something big happens, Sadie leaves, Summer meets Paolo and they all leave for college…but all will not be revealed yet. Make sure you check the next chapter cause it's huge! (Literally as well, lol, should be easily a couple of thousand words.)**

**Also there have been some reviews about the Princess Sparkle thing last Chapter so I included that in this one, and someone wanted the story to be R/M all the waty through – well I can't give any guarantees but it may well come to that somewhere along the way… **

**califreakinfornia xx. **

**P.S. Sorry if some of the line spacing is different this time, something may havehappened there but you'll just have to bear with me until I work that out. (I'm not the best with computers!) Should be readable though.**


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